Development of Thought & Language. Infant as an explorer Infancy: first 18 – 24 months All sensory...
-
Upload
curtis-summers -
Category
Documents
-
view
215 -
download
0
Transcript of Development of Thought & Language. Infant as an explorer Infancy: first 18 – 24 months All sensory...
Development of Thought & Language
Infant as an explorer
Infancy: first 18 – 24 months All sensory systems are functional at birth Exploration driven by…
Novelty seeking Control
Cognitive development
Piaget’s Theory Overview Features of the theory Sensorimotor stage Preoperational stage Concrete operations stage Formal operations stage
Problems with the theory Learning Outcomes
What is cognition?
Inner processes and products of the mind that lead to “knowing”
Includes all mental activity Attending, remembering, symbolizing, categorizing,
planning, reasoning, fantasizing etc…. Virtually everything we do involves thinking or cognitive
functioning Recalling a phone number Remembering a list Following directions
What is cognition?
Research focuses on What typical courses of development are Identifying individual differences Mechanisms of cognitive development
Piaget’s Theory
Stage theory 1) Sensorimotor stage
0-2 years 2) Preoperational stage
2-7 years 3) Concrete operational stage
7-11 years 4) Formal operation stage
11+ years Stages are invariant and universal
Piagetian Ideas
Cognitive development occurs through each child’s actions on the environment Allows us to begin making sense out of our
experiences Infants react toward events in the environment on
a reflexive level Gradually gain control of actions as they develop
SCHEMES, or mental representations of actions Begin with a few basic schema: cognitive
structure or concept used to identify/interpret info
Piaget’s Terminology
Scheme-mental blueprints for actions Most primitive schemes elicited by the presence of
an object/stimulus (sucking, grasping, smiling) Assimilation—process of incorporating new
experiences/info into existing schemes Adaptation- existing schemes expand/change in
order to accommodate the new info Modifying a scheme to fit new events, objects, etc.
Piaget’s Theory
4 Stages of Development Sensorimotor Pre-Operational Concrete Operational Formal Operational
Represent increasingly sophisticated ways of understanding the physical environment
1. Sensorimotor Stage
Represents development from birth to about 2 years
Thought and overt physical action are one in the same
Task 1: develop classes of schemes specific for different objects
i.e., determining what types of behaviours are appropriate and effective for influencing specific things around me
Task 2: develop object permanence
Trends in the Sensorimotor Stage
Rigidity flexibility Behaviour adapts to larger range of stimuli
Isolation coordination Series of different actions can be performed on an
object Reactivity intentionality
Progression to planned behaviour Overt actions mental representations
Objects and people are represented symbolically
Object permanence Objects are tied to infant’s awareness of them
“out of sight, out of mind” Hidden toy experiment
4 months: no attempt to search for hidden object
4-9 months: visual search for object 9 months: search for and retrieve hidden
object
2. Preoperational Stage
Ages 2 – 7 Now that child has mental representations,
begins to utilize symbols Can symbolize objects/events that are absent E.g, language, creative play By manipulating symbols, child is in effect
thinking in a way he/she would not be able to in the absence of props
2. Preoperational Stage
Egocentrism – thinks everyone experiences the world exactly as they do
Single view point Anamistic: Inanimate objects have lifelike
qualities just like themselves E.g., sun is angry at clouds and chased them
away 3 mountains task
2. Preoperational Stage
Lack of conservation Irreversibility
3. Concrete Operational Stage
Conservation Can do logical operations Understand reversibility
Formal Operations
Age 12 + years Capacity for abstract/hypothetical thought Hyptothetico-deductive reasoning
Start with general theory-deduce specific hypothesis
Propositional Thought Can reason contrary to experience
Imaginary Audience and Personal Fable consequences
Criticism of Piaget
Not enough attention to individual differences Underestimates abilities of some exceptional
children Children are more advanced cognitively, and
adults are less competent cognitively than Piaget believed
Information processing perspective
Piaget viewed the mind as a single entity I.P. perspective = mind is a set of interacting
components Computer analogy I.P. approach relies on our memory model
1. Attention mechanisms for gathering info
2. Working memory for “thinking”
3. Long term memory
Information processing perspective
Presumes that cognitive developmental improvements result from changes in these 3 systems.
Increased working memory and ability to (a) contemplate more information at one time, and (b) process that information more quickly
Evidence shows that attention, ability to encode and recall info into/from LT memory increases with age
Information processing perspective
Places heavy emphasis on importance of biological development and maturity as a precursor for cognitive growth
Also holds that cog development improves not only by improvements to the physical machinery, but also through acquisition of rules/strategies for problem solving.
Increasingly sophisticated and efficient
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
1896-1934 Largely unknown b/c Stalin banned his work
after his death Didn’t find it’s way to Western scientists until
fall of communism Sociocultural environment is most important
element in cognitive development
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Child still manipulates his/her world, but culture and social influences dramatically effect child’s cognition—socially formed mind
Cognitive processes (e.g., language, thought, reasoning) develop through social interaction
These develop first 2 yrs with direct environmental contact
Development is a product of Culture
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Emphasized the role of Social interaction Instruction
Zone of Proximal Development The discrepancy between level of actual
development and potential development
Vygotsky – Make believe play
Form of proximal development where children advance themselves as they try out a wide variety of skills
Vygotsky – Role of Language
Piaget’s view: language is just another mental representation, under-developed until age 6-7
Simply one consequence of other developmental processes
Vygotsky: Language essential to cognitive development
Cog development the product of social interaction, and subsequently, language
Vygotsky – Role of Language
Private speech – children talk to themselves Adults give instructions to children (social speech) Kids start to use parents instructions to direct their
own behaviour (private speech) Private speech becomes internalized as thought
processes (silent statements) Internalized speech used to plan and guide
behaviour == Cognitive Development
Summary of Vygotsky
Culture and social interaction very important for cognitive development
Social interactions with knowledgeable others moves development forward (ZPD)
Language is central to cognitive development Social speech –> Private Speech -
Thought
Theory of mind
We are all psychologists in our every day lives
Understanding of mental states (e.g., feelings, intentions), and their causal role in behavior Crying person described as “sad” Person drinking is thirsty Develops by approximately age 3
Autism
Suppose you were oblivious to the minds of other people.
Wouldn’t feel self conscious or embarrassed No concern of their thoughts of you Wouldn’t ask about others thoughts, or share
own No social connections – people are just a
means to an end at best, and scenery at worst
Autism
Severe deficits in social interaction Language acquisition deficits Repetitive behaviors Narrow focus of interest Self stimulating tendencies Early signs
Failure to sustain eye contact, share visual attention, or synchronize emotional expression
Autism
Elly Learned words curve, triangle and heptagon Couldn’t learn love, friend, good, bad, think,
see, etc. Problems with pronouns (e.g., I, you)
Autism
Kids with other developmental disabilities engage in imaginative play
Rain man
Section Summary
Piaget – mind consists of schemes (mental blueprints for actions)
Cognitive growth occurs when kids assimilate/accomodate new experiences into existing schemes
4 Stages of Mental Development
1. Sensorimotor: thought inseparable from physical action
2. Preoperational: can symbolize objects/events that are absent
3. Concrete Operational: know that certain actions (operations) are reversible, and principles of conservation
4. Formal Operational: abstract understanding, hypothetical thoughts
Info Processing Perspective Summary
Mind like a computer Reasoning ability improves with age as result
of increased processing speed and capacity
Sociocultural PerspectiveSummary
Vygotsky Key to mental growth is acquisition of
language Language permits learning from others and
provides foundation for verbal thought Children are apprentice-like Zone of proximal development
Autism
….?
Development of Language
3000 languages in world All fundamentally similar, but distinct enough
that one makes no sense to another Linguists cannot explain all the rules of
English language Language is represented by symbols Every person, object, concept can be
represented as a symbol
Language
Communication system in which a limited number of symbols that can be combined according to agreed upon rules to produce an infinite number of messages
Process of mastery
1. Learning basic sounds
2. Combining sounds to form words
3. Combining words to form statements
4. Understanding of statements
First sounds
Burps, grunts, sneezes – exercise vocal chords
First sounds create dialogues between infant & caregiver
6-8 weeks “cooing” begins Repeated, drawn out vowels (oooooh, eeeeeh)
First sounds
• 4-6 Months: cooing becomes babbling• Repeated consonant and vowel sounds (paa-
paa-paa, do-do-do)• Cooing and babbling occur most when hapy• Vocal play serves as exercise for fundamental
muscle movements
First Words
First Yearo Holophrases: single wordso Intonation: question, request, demando Nouns first: names of familiar things 18 Months: vocabulary spurt (30-50 words) 24 Months: 180+ words Significant individual differences
First Mistakes
2 year olds Overextension: Too broad Under-extension: Too narrow Over-regularization: Misapplication of rules
E.g., “foots” or “go-ed”
2 Year Olds
2+ word utterances Functional grammar Context important Rules inferred from adult speech
2-5 Years
Adult-like speech First grade: 10,000 words Early adolescence: understand on conceptual
level, can define words, notice incorrect grammar, etc.